Minnesota Wild rally twice, snap Canucks' streak

Zach Parise, second from left, is congratulated by teammates Mikko Koivu, left, Jared Spurgeon and Ryan Suter after his goal in the first period Tuesday. (Pioneer Press: John Autey)

The third period at the Xcel Energy Center started just like the first two Tuesday night: the Wild being outshot by the Vancouver Canucks.

Minnesota mustered two shots in the first eight minutes of the final frame, but then something clicked. Captain Mikko Koivu found Charlie Coyle for the ying goal at 8:47, and from then on, the Wild peppered Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo.

It remained tied 2-2 until Jason Pominville scored the only goal in a shootout for a 3-2 Wild victory.

The Wild snapped the Canucks' seven-game winning streak.

"We started shooting more, for sure," Wild coach Mike Yeo said. "That was something that we talked about in the morning and before the game, and we didn't seem to fully grasp it until intermission."

The Wild, who rank 28th in the 30-team NHL at 2.2 goals a game, rallied from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits. Zach Parise tied the game 1-1 at 11:46 in the first period.

On the third-period equalizer, Coyle credited assistant captain Parise as much as Koivu for his pass.

"It was a great play," said Coyle, who scored his fourth goal of the season. "Obviously, a good pass and everyone sees that, but Zach going through the middle and (was) dragging the D with him; that is just as good as the pass. A great play by both of them."

Aggressive play from the first line continued after the goal with chances for Koivu and Coyle. Erik Haula and Nino Neiderreiter also were around the net.

The announced crowd of 18,531 took notice and applauded when the assault briefly ebbed at 2:20 in the third period.

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When the Wild continued to pressure Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo in overtime, the fans showed more appreciation after Kyle Brodziak and Erik Haula almost capitalized at 2:20 in overtime.

"Moving our feet a little bit more and supporting each other a little bit better," Pominville explained. "I thought we were a little more physical, and the fans got into it and gave us energy."

Pominville and Yeo also didn't want to overlook goalie Josh Harding, who made 29 saves.

"Certainly it helps when you are down by a goal and Josh makes the saves that he did," Yeo said. "Let's not forget about those."

Before Tuesday, the Wild had scored 16 goals in the past 11 games and were looking for ways to jumpstart the offense by throwing shots on net.

"We have to be like that," Yeo said. "It helped create a lot more for us. It's something we've been stressing, but we have to stress it more."

The Wild won for only the sixth time in 19 games when their opponent scores first.

"Just sort of an attitude that they are going to keep fighting," Yeo said. "There have been other games when we haven't gotten the win, but this has been the characteristic of our group that they are going to keep fighting."

The game was the only home contest sandwiched between extended road trips. They play the Penguins Thursday in Pittsburgh at 6 p.m.

On Tuesday, the Wild improved to 14-3-2 at the X.

"Any time we come here we feel confident to win a game," Pominville said. "Tonight is a good example; we were down and we stuck with it and found a way."